Today I turned 45! In my head I am sure I am still 25. Anyway, you know what this means...new AGE GROUP!  So how does a girl celebrate such an important milestone? With the multisport approach x 45: a 4500 yard swim, 45 pull ups, and a 45 mile bike ride. The last three years I have done age x 135 lb sumo deadlifts (1 set) - here's last year's 44 x 135. I knew I wanted to change it up this year and it ended up expanding into multiple events over multiple days. It's only fair since my kids' birthdays have expanded into week+ long events!!


Event 1 - 4500 yard swim (Sunday March 18)

My husband said I was doing my "long range torpedo impression." Cute.
For some of you, 4500 in the pool is a regular thing. But my time-crunched life, my swims are smashed into a narrow window between when the pool opens on weekday mornings and when I need to get home to get kid #2 organized and off to school. I like to hit 2500y. This day I had no such constraints. 4500 yards = 2.56 miles = 90 laps. Given my admitted inability to sustain focus long enough to count laps reliably beyond about....oh...say 3 of them, you may be wondering how I successfully counted to such a large double-digit number? I lapped my watch in increments of 500y, knowing each would come in around 9 minutes at a relaxed pace. I'd never really done much beyond 3000 yards. I went at an easy "forever" pace but wondered if "forever" might hit before 4500 or not. Happily, it did not! I took a quick drink break at 1500 and 3000 but all the 500s hit within 10s of 9 minutes for a total of around 1:21. I was surprised how quickly it went by and how good I felt afterward.

Event 2 - 45 Pull Ups (Tuesday, March 20)

I've always loved doing pull ups and they are a staple for me in the gym. Great for the lats but even better for just feeling strong and capable!
It took me 7 sets (12, 8, 6, 6, 6, 4, 3) and about 10 minutes to do them all with about 45s rest between sets.  All in all, not bad considering I'd had a swim this morning too that included a set with paddles, taxing the lats some. But with the power of the pink lifting straps, all things are possible! It was good to have a bit of help and extra motivation from Kurt -- rep 26 was a perfect example, haha! After this we went through a back and bicep workout: one-arm dumbbell rows, seated rows, face pulls (rear delts), cable ez bar curls, shrugs, and alternate dumbell curls.

Event 3 - 45 mile bike ride (Thursday, March 22 - Bday!)

 
It was a gorgeous day in the 70's and I took the morning off of work. I'd gotten the bike back the day before from Steve at Just the Right Gear with the new "Merry Birthday" wheels (Christmas and Birthday gift from my dear husband!) on, new chain, and new cassette.  I headed out on a route that I had only done a modified version of once before so parts were fairly new to me. On a loop of just three country roads, I got most of the 45 miles in so I only had to add a short spur onto the end. I'd forgotten just how nice this bike is to ride; I'd been on my road bike for the last few months so to switch to the tri bike and ride with the race wheels for the first time was just a great treat! I enjoyed every mile of that ride!
  What are your birthday workout stories? How have you celebrated in a multisport way?

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